This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Preconception care for women with diabetes could save $5.5 billion
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Health and cost burdens associated with pregestational diabetes could be prevented by universal preconception care, according to research published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
These findings, from a team of health economists and researchers from the CDC, suggest the savings would be substantial enough to offset the cost of providing such care, according to the investigators.
“Preconception care (PCC) before pregnancy among women with known pregestational diabetes could potentially generate benefits of up to $4.3 billion by preventing preterm births, birth defects and perinatal deaths,” Cora Peterson, PhD, of the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, told Endocrine Today. “Up to an additional $1.2 billion in benefits could be produced if women who do not know they have diabetes were diagnosed and received PCC.”
Cora Peterson
The researchers estimated age- and race/ethnicity-specific prevalence of diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes among women aged 15 to 44 years. Those outcomes were applied to pregnancy rates based on race/ethnicity; estimates of risk reduction from PCC for preterm birth, major birth defects and perinatal mortality; and lifetime medical and lost productivity costs for children.
“PCC for women with pregestational diabetes includes medical or dietary blood sugar control, blood sugar monitoring, screening and treatment of complications due to diabetes, counseling and education about the risks of diabetes in pregnancy and using effective birth control or contraceptives until appropriate levels of blood sugar are achieved,” Peterson said.
A probabilistic model was used to estimate reductions in adverse birth outcomes and costs with universal PCC vs. no PCC among women with pregestational diabetes; maternal outcomes and associated costs were not assessed.
Approximately 2.2% of US births are to women with pregestational diabetes. Among those with diagnosed diabetes, universal PCC could avert 8,397 preterm deliveries, 3,725 birth defects and 1,872 perinatal deaths annually.
The related discounted lifetime costs averted for affected children could be as high as $4.3 billion in 2012 US dollars. Universal PCC among women with undiagnosed diabetes could yield an additional $1.2 billion in averted cost.
This estimate of potential benefit of PCC for women with pregestational diabetes does not account for the cost of PCC, Peterson said, noting that delivery models for PCC services vary.
“Further study of the cost and associated benefits of PCC for participating women, as well as women’s compliance with PCC, is needed,” Peterson said. “Those future estimates, in combination with the results of this study, could be used to assess the cost-effectiveness of PCC for women with pregestational diabetes.” – by Allegra Tiver
For more information: Peterson can be reached at 1600 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA 30329; via email at http://wwwn.cdc.gov/dcs/RequestForm.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts